Our own infinity
by DragonRyuuji
Summary: A collection of short stories and drabbles with Booker and Elizabeth. Some will be AU, some will not. Rated M for mature content later on.
1. Chapter 1

This will be a collection of one-shots, two-shots and whatnot that I will write when I'm trying to get inspiration for my other fics. I've been having quite a big writers block lately. These fics will vary a lot; from action, to fluff, to smut. Will probably contain spoilers. The ship is Booker x Elizabeth, and whether or not it's the game universe or another universe (those having played the game will know what I'm talking about) is up to you. But I write this with the original game universe in mind. Feel free to give me tips about different situations I could write about. First chapter is just a drabble.

* * *

Booker DeWitt had always been the kind of man who focused solely on the job at hand. He didn't have time for relaxing during a mission, wasting his time on petty activities like sightseeing. Especially now that he was on the most important and dangerous mission of his entire life. He had quite literally broken into the tower and freed the princess from the dragon, and now he had to get her the hell out of the flying city. It was all so confusing to him – having ended up in a city floating thousands of feet above ground. How did he even end up here? All he wanted was to get out. He'd told the girl that they were going to Paris, but he was obviously lying. It surprised him that she didn't actually realize that. No, all he cared about was the job. The only problem was…

"No, Elizabeth," Booker groaned tiredly, shaking his head in determination.

"Oh, come on Mr. DeWitt," she pouted, pulling on the fabric of Booker's vest. "It's only for thirty minutes, come on!"

"I said no! We don't have time to go window-shopping, less so go to a café right now, you got that? We're running from a lot of dangerous people right now!" He exclaimed in exasperation, hoping that she'd actually understand how important it was that they got out of there.

"Don't you worry, Mr. DeWitt," Elizabeth said calmly, with a gentle smile. "It's not like anyone will find us here. I'm pretty sure that roadblock you created back there should hold them back for quite a while."

"That doesn't mean some of them aren't here, you know," he replied, rubbing his forehead with his thumb and index finger. "Look, it's too dangerous, okay? We don't have all the time in the world, and I'd like to get going."

"Well I think you're being a killjoy, Mr. DeWitt. I've never been to a café before, you know! I've read so much about the café's in Paris. Oh, how I want to try one!" She exclaimed dreamily, almost jumping up and down in excitement.

"Well then, you can try one once we get to Paris," Booker sighed, about to start walking towards their next point of departure.

"I can't wait that long," Elizabeth pouted, letting her arms hang daftly by her sides. She turned around and started jogging in a different direction.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me…" Booker groaned, taking off after Elizabeth who had disappeared into a crowd. He could just barely see the brim of her white skirt brushing by the ground, and he followed it until he'd gotten through the crowd, and sure enough…

"Hello again, Mr. DeWitt," Elizabeth smiled gladly from where she sat, at an outside table by a café. "I'm glad you took your time to join me."

"Seriously, Elizabeth," he said, glaring daggers at her. "We need to go."

"I'm not going with you if you're going to be such a grumpy old man."

"… Fine," he sighed, slumping down in the seat opposed of the girl. "But for god's sake, make it quick."

"I will do my best," She replied amusedly, nodding her head just a little. She brought up a menu that was by the table, looking at it with big eyes, humming a tune to herself. Booker crossed his arms on the table and looked at her. He was about to tell her to get a move-on, but he was suddenly captivated by her silhouette. The dimming sun hit one side of her face that was barely visible from behind the menu, and the wind blew through her hair that was tied up in a little pony-tail in the back. Her eyes were so blue, like a never-ending ocean. Booker had never seen anything like it.

"Is anything the matter, Mr. DeWitt?" Elizabeth asked after lowering the menu and seeing the concentrated expression on Booker's face. He looked confused for a moment before snapping out of it.

"Huh? No, no, I'm fine," he murmured, shaking his head. Elizabeth giggled.

"You're weird."

She rocked back and forth a little in her chair as she put the menu back down on the table, waiting patiently until a waiter had made his way over to them.

"What can I get you?" He asked politely, his eyes shifting back and forth between Elizabeth and Booker, clearly a bit surprised by their age difference.

"I'd like a cup of warm chocolate with whipped cream, and a vanilla tart," Elizabeth almost sang, seeming quite excited about something as simple as a café.

"And for the gentleman?"

"I don't need anything," Booker said in reject, waving his hand a little.

"Oh, he's just being stubborn," Elizabeth giggled, looking up at the waiter. "He'd love a cup of coffee," she smiled, and the waiter nodded before taking off.

"I said I didn't need anything," Booker growled, looking at Elizabeth with an annoyed expression on his face. Elizabeth supported her elbows on the table and folded her hands under her chin, looking at him with big eyes.

"But does that mean you don't _want _anything?" She mused, tilting her head just a little.

"Then why coffee?" He asked, perking an eyebrow.

"You look like a man who likes coffee, Mr. DeWitt. I've read about these sorts of things."

"You've read books about who likes coffee and who doesn't?"

"I was locked away for quite a long time, you know," she giggled.

"Huh. Makes sense, I guess."

The rest of the time before the waiter returned with their orders was filled with Elizabeth chattering away about nothing in particular, just happy about all the new things she'd gotten to see in just the little time they'd been away from her tower. After they got what they had ordered, Elizabeth went quiet for a while. She was silently letting her eyes roam around, looking at the clouds, and the people going about their everyday life. She noticed how some of them looked at her and Booker, and it made her smile a bit.

"Do you think we look like a couple to them?" Elizabeth asked innocently, making Booker choke on his coffee and burn his tongue. He composed himself and sat his cup down on the table.

"What?" He uttered, blinking quickly with his eyes.

"These people… when they look at us, do you think they see us as a couple?"

"I don't know," he shrugged carelessly. "I hope not."

Elizabeth looked at him for a moment before taking a zip from her hot chocolate, bringing a napkin to her lips to wipe away some whipped cream that had gotten stuck. She wasn't really sure how she was supposed to react to his reply. Was it rude for her to just ask something like that out of the blue? She'd read a lot of books about how to converse with people, but she knew that people reacted differently to things – everyone was different, after all. Mr. DeWitt was a serious man, after all, and she guessed she shouldn't be surprised that he'd say something like that. But it was the first time she'd ever gotten rejected, even though she was just saying it to have fun.

"But what if they did? Wouldn't that be exciting?" She smiled.

"No, it wouldn't," Booker replied nonchalantly. "It would be creepy, nothing else."

Elizabeth figured he was probably referring to their age gap. Booker didn't exactly look old, but one could see that he was much older than Elizabeth was. She couldn't really help but find Booker's stubborn behavior a bit amusing. He seemed like such a prideful man. Elizabeth shrugged to herself and finished eating her tart, sighing contently.

"My, that was nice," she sang, her hands folded neatly in her lap. "So, shall we get going?"

"Yes," Booker replied without hesitation, leaving some money on the table before walking off. Elizabeth got up and hurried after him.

"You didn't have to pay for me, Mr. DeWitt," she said, sounding a bit flustered.

"Oh well, I did," he murmured, walking quite hurriedly, forcing Elizabeth to tap her feet swiftly over the ground to keep up with him. After walking like that for a while, they could hear commotion further down the street the way they came from.

"Out of the way! Has anyone seen these two people on the illustrations?" A voice shouted from a crowd, and Elizabeth hurriedly looked at Booker.

"Well, Mr. DeWitt, I think it's time we got a move on," she giggled playfully and grabbed his arm, pulling him after her as she ran down the street with Booker stumbling after her.


	2. My protector

I just want to make it clear that not many chapters in this story are actually codependent on the other chapters. Some are new stories, but I will make it clear before every chapter if it is a continuation to another chapter, and I will especially mention if it is an AU. This is mostly a drabble, but you could say it's what happens after the first chapter. Also, thank you for all the great reviews! They inspired me to write more. And to the anon who pointed out that Elizabeth and Booker is father and daughter : I know. If you look at my other fics you might see that I've written several stories with an incestous storyline. ^^

* * *

Explosions. That's what it started with. They had been making their way down an alley, thinking they were out of trouble for the time being, but then there had been flames. Debris came crashing down towards them from the buildings above them, forcing Booker to push Elizabeth out of the way and hide behind a stack of boxes. Elizabeth could hear nothing but static. A high tone. That was it.

"-eth!" She could see Booker moving his mouth. He was saying something, but what? She could feel her mind going hazy. "-beth! Elizabeth, can you hear me?! Snap out of it, we have to get out of here!" Booker shouted, and now she was coming back. All of her senses were returning.

"M-Mr. DeWitt," she stuttered, looking at him for a moment before nodding. "I-I hear you," she stuttered. Booker nodded back and poked his head up from the boxes to ascertain their situation. They were in a pretty narrow alleyway, and a lot of soldiers were making their way towards them.

"Fuck," he murmured under his breath, sitting back down. They could make a run for it for the other end, but they'd be shot in the back without question. Booker noticed Elizabeth having her arm jammed in between some of the boxes before pulling it back, retrieving a blue bottle.

"Here are some salts, Mr. DeWitt," she said gingerly, handing it to him. She seemed afraid, or at least nervous. Booker nodded and took the salts, hurriedly ingesting them.

"I'll create a distraction," he said to her matter-of-factly, grabbing her by the shoulders as he looked her in the eyes. "As soon as I say so, you make a run for the opening, okay?"

"M-mhm," she nodded. Booker sat up in a crouched position and pushed one of the top boxes so that it was placed kind of like a flight of stairs. He stepped back, still crouched down, before straightening his back and making a run towards the boxes. He stepped onto the "stairs" and leaped off them, now about two and a half meters into the air. He wasn't far away from the group of soldiers, but they were too slow to react. He looked at his hand as he saw the green woman swim around his palm. Possession. He threw it at a soldier in the very middle of the crowd, and he started shooting frantically around him.

"Now!" he shouted, hoping that Elizabeth would hear it from behind him. "Mother of shit!" Booker exclaimed as he started falling downwards, straight towards one of the men on the first line of the crowd. He timed his fall by placing his feet into the man's back, kicking off so that he was sent a little back. He got up hurriedly and ran. Good, the distraction worked. As he ran, he saw that Elizabeth was nearing the exit of the alleyway. She'd heard him, luckily. He sprinted until he'd caught up with her, immediately pulling her to the side as they exited the alley, and a bullet propelled just next to them and slammed into a wooden pole.

"T-Thank you, Mr. DeWitt," Elizabeth stuttered, looking up at him with big eyes. She didn't really realize how hard she was clutching the fabric of his vest at that moment. He shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. We need to get out of here." He said, looking around. "They'll be catching up soon."

"Mr. DeWitt, behind you!" Elizabeth suddenly shouted, and Booker flung around. He fired a bullet from his gun that hit right in the face of the enemy, but more were coming.

"Alright, run!" He exclaimed, and they took off in the other direction. They slid behind some cover, Booker checking around the corner for their situation.

"Found this!" He heard from behind him. He turned around and saw Elizabeth kneeling over a weapon's box. She tossed him the gun and he caught it in both hands. It was a… volleygun?

"Perfect, Elizabeth!" He exclaimed with a surprised smile on his face. He turned around before he was able to see Elizabeth's proud-like smile, seeming to be quite pleased with herself. Booker sat up from behind the cover and fired a round from the volleygun into the crowd approaching them, making several of the soldiers fly in different directions. He loaded the gun again and fired.

Booker was used to this kind of thing, of course. He was a thug. But he didn't really know how Elizabeth felt. She seemed quite calm, but he knew that she didn't like him killing people. Like it mattered, anyway. He didn't give a rat's ass about what she felt, as long as he could get his job done. It was a cynical train of thought, but Booker had for a long time been a cynical son of a bitch. That's what he called himself, at least.

"Mr. DeWitt, this is…" Elizabeth held something in her hands, a little unsure of what to do with it. She hesitantly handed it to Booker, a worried look in her eyes. He grabbed it and read the inscription.

"Murder of crows? This could be useful," he murmured to himself. He popped the lid on the flask and downed it all in one gulp, instantly feeling the muscles in his body clenching as they fought not to throw the liquid back out. His vision became blurry as a crow landed on his hand, bearing what looked like intestines in his mouth. And then everything was normal again, as if it had never happened.

"Mr. DeWitt? Are you okay? Those vigors are nasty stuff," Elizabeth said calmingly, putting a hand on his forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Get ready to run," he replied. He clenched his fist and released a spring trap right next to him. "Now!" He hissed, and they were up and running. The soldiers took off running behind them, but ran straight into the spring trap of crows. "Sky-rail!" He uttered as he looked to his side. He leapt off the little fence and hooked onto the sky-rail, looking behind him to make sure Elizabeth had too. She was right behind.

The rail brought them downwards at first, away from all the gunfire. They slid down to a lower part of the city, filled with only aqueducts and air-pipes that were huge, and mostly out of service. Those could be nice hiding places, but Booker wasn't one for those kinds of things. No, he wanted to keep on the move. He turned around to check on Elizabeth again, but he was caught by surprise as something bright came flying towards her. It was engulfed in flames.

"ROCKET!" He roared, trying to warn her, but it was too late. Booker turned on the sky rail and let go, Elizabeth immediately catching up to him. She looked confused.

"Mr. DeWitt!" She exclaimed as she saw him let go. What was he doing?! Booker managed to place himself between Elizabeth and the rocket, still mid-air. The rocket was 1 meter away from him, just as he managed to toss one of his guns into the rocket, making it explode right there. The blast hit him right in the back, sending him crashing into Elizabeth. They both fell from the sky-rails, propelling towards one of the air-pipes. They turned and they turned, Elizabeth's expression filled with shock and fear, unsure of what was going on.

Just as they reached the air-pipe, they had turned so that Booker was underneath, his back ramming into the metal surface. They slid further into the air-pipe, effectively hiding them away from anyone's sight. Elizabeth let out a pained moan as they slid to a halt, Booker tipping more over on the side. She needed a few seconds to compose herself and come to her senses, and when she did, she took in the entire situation at hand. She was lying inside of an air-pipe, just against the wall of it, Booker's arms tightly clenched around her shoulders. Had he… protected her?

"Mr… Mr. DeWitt?" She uttered, shaking him a little. He was completely still. She shook him again, but there was no response. She pushed him off, which only resulted in him rolling onto his back, her landing on top of him as she kept shaking him, her legs straddling his hips. "Mr. DeWitt!" She exclaimed, shaking and shaking his shoulders. "BOOKER!"

"Ugh…" Booker uttered a low groan, slowly opening one eye. He felt something heavy pinning him down to the ground by his waist, making it practically impossible for him to move. The pain in his back was unbearable. Not only had he gotten a rocket exploding a meter away from his back, but he'd landed on the same back and slid across rusted metal. Not that he really remembered how it had happened, but he could definitely feel it. "Ah, shit, it hurts…" He hissed.

"M-Mr. DeWitt…" Elizabeth uttered in relief, her hand flying to her chest. "I thought I'd lost you there for a moment…"

"I preferred it when you called me Booker just now," he chuckled before groaning again from the pain.

"U-Uh… oh, right, sorry!" Elizabeth exclaimed, hurriedly getting off of him. "You have to sit up." She said, and Booker did as she said without even hesitating. There were holes in his vest, the flesh underneath burnt and scratched. Elizabeth pulled a first aid kit out of her little pouch and started working on his wounds, cleaning them at first. "I need to put this bandage on you," she said, making Booker turn his head a little.

"Yes? Go ahead." He said simply, furrowing his brows a little.

"You have to remove your vest and shirt first, Mr. DeWitt." She smiled gently.

"Huh? Oh…" He muttered, looking a bit disheartened.

"Come on, it's not that hard is it? Just take it off." She giggled. Booker nodded hesitantly and started removing his clothes, wincing from the pain that came once the fabric loosened from his wounds. Once it was off, he looked down at the ground. He shouldn't be embarrassed. He was a grown man and she was a young woman. There was no reason to get flustered. But he was. Elizabeth didn't seem to mind it at all, though. She put the bandage around his back going to his chest, until she'd covered all the wounds. Afterwards, Booker put on his vest and sat against the wall, making sure only his shoulders leaned against it so that he didn't hurt his back anymore. Elizabeth was walking around, fidgeting a little.

"Is anything wrong?" Booker asked, narrowing his eyes a little. She looked distressed somehow.

"No, nothing, it's just… uhm…" She walked over to him and sat down on her knees between his spread out legs. "I… thank you."

"For what?"

"For saving me, of course!" She exclaimed, looking a bit embarrassed. "There's no need to act stupid with me, Mr. DeWitt, because I'm smarter than that."

Booker sighed. "I know…" He murmured, shrugging his shoulders a little.

"That was… really nice of you," Elizabeth said with a shy smile, carefully pressing her lips on Booker's forehead before standing back up to go look out of the air-pipe for a second. Booker looked after her for a moment, just gazing.

"Yeah…" He murmured to himself, Elizabeth unable to hear it. "She doesn't seem too bad."


	3. To Paris!

This short drabble technically takes place after the ending of BioShock infinite : Booker never gave away his daughter, and she grows up with Booker as her father, with her real name; Anna. But Booker still has memories from their time in Columbia, but he can't access them because of the tear. This is not connected to the former chapters of this story.

* * *

He could still remember that day. It felt so unnatural, yet he didn't know why. How he'd entered his daughter's room, only to find her rolling a little in her crib, smiling innocently up at him. Why had he been so shocked? He'd somehow felt that something was wrong, that she was never supposed to be there, but he didn't understand _why_. And he'd put it aside. He pretended that it didn't matter, for the sake of his daughter. And she grew up to be such an amazing little girl, and somehow, Booker wasn't surprised when his 8 year old daughter Anna told him she wanted to go to Paris.

"Daddy, daddy, what's that place?" Little Anna asked with a playful smile, pointing at the picture hanging on the wall in Booker DeWitt's office.

"That's the Eiffel tower, Anna," he smiled, gently putting a hand on her shoulder as he looked at the picture. "I bought this at a little shop down the street two years ago, in 1901… I thought it looked nice."

"Where is it?" Anna asked, looking up at her father with big eyes.

"It's in Paris. That's the capital of France."

"Paris," Anna repeated to herself, her gaze returning to the picture. Booker could notice the longing expression on her face. "I want to go to Paris, papa," she said dreamily, rocking back and forth on her heels a little. Booker could feel his vision go blurry. It was almost as if Anna got a bit taller… as if she had grown up, but just a silhouette standing around the real Anna. A beautiful, young woman.

"_Oh, how I want to see Paris, Mr. DeWitt," the voice said, so dreamily, and with such a soft voice. _

Booker stepped back, and everything was back to normal. What the hell had just happened?

"Papa, you're bleeding," Anna uttered, confused, as she looked up at Booker. He brought a hand to his nose and saw the blood on his fingers.

"What the…" He uttered. He went to wash it off before returning to Anna. For some reason, he felt obliged to tell her that; "How about we go to Paris instead of Memphis this summer?"

"Yay!"

…

She was skipping across the harbor, her white and blue dress swinging back and forth at her legs. She looked so genuinely happy to be there, so utterly glad that she had finally stepped off the boat and gotten to Paris together with her father. Booker came walking behind her with their bags propped over his shoulder, and one in his hand, looking a bit tired from the trip.

"Papa, can we go see the Eiffel tower now, please?" Anna ushered, jumping up and down while holding onto her father's vest. Booker couldn't help but laugh heartily, putting his hand on Anna's head.

"Be patient, Anna. We have to drop off our luggage at the hotel first." He said, making Anna pout childishly.

"But daddy," she murmured, puffing out her cheeks. Booker shook his head a little.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but we can't be walkin' around carrying our luggage everywhere."

"Fine," She crossed her arms over her chest, marching off to some random direction.

"Uhm, Anna… it's this way." Booker stuttered, pointing towards the street they were supposed to head down. She turned grumpily and walked that way instead. She couldn't stay mad for long, though. There were so many people there, so different from the one's she'd seen in America. Many of them wore different types of clothing, and some even had berets on their head.

"This is so amazing," Anna uttered, which made Booker smile.

"I'm glad you like it," he grinned, ruffling her hair a little as they walked towards their hotel. When they got to their room, Booker was more than just a little surprised. He'd rented the room from an ad in the papers, and he didn't really have a lot of money, but the room was extraordinarily nice. It wasn't anything special, really, but the balcony, and the view… it was amazing.

"This is really nice," Booker murmured to himself as he looked out at the balcony and put their luggage down between the two single beds. Anna sat down on the edge of her bed, kicking her feet carefully back and forth while Booker made his way onto the balcony to look out at the city. There were so many people, and so much to see. He could sense movement, and turned to his right. The neighbor balcony was only about 1 meter apart from his, and there was a woman there standing with her back turned against him. Looking at her silhouette, she seemed so beautiful. Dark, brown hair tied into a ponytail, her blue and white dress blowing slightly in the breeze.

Booker shook his head and went back inside. This wasn't really the time to be gazing at women.

"Want to go see the Eiffel tower now?" He asked Anna with a smile, something which made her jump up from the bed with a wide smile.

"Yes! Uh, papa?" She asked, confused as she looked at him. "You're bleeding."

…

"It reaches so high up into the sky!" Anna exclaimed, her eyes flickering towards the top of the tower, forcing her to lean her head backwards.

"Do you think you'll dare go all the way to the top?" Booker asked playfully, making Anna pout a little.

"I think maybe the lower floor is good enough, daddy," she murmured.

"Then we won't go any further up than that," he smiled, and they made their way to the park beneath the tower. There were so many people there. Some sold souvenirs, some were painting pictures. There were people of every sort there. When they approached the stairs that lead up the tower, they were met by a man and a woman. They looked quite similar, actually, wearing the same colored clothing and everything.

"Would you want a ticket for the top floor, or bottom floor?" The man asked formally, his head tilting just a little.

"Obviously they'll go for the top floor," the woman said, looking at the man.

"I think they'll go for the bottom one." The man said.

"What makes you think that?"

"I just feel it."

"We'll uh… we'll have two tickets for the bottom floor, please." Booker uttered, looking a bit confused. Man, French people sure were special.

"Told you so," the man whispered as he handed them the tickets and they started making their way up the stairs.

"He _always _chooses the bottom floor. I really thought this time might be different, though."

"You always think that, dear sister."

Booker and Anna made their way up the stairs and shower their ticket at the lowest floor. They walked out, and Booker realized how high they were into the air already on the bottom floor. Anna rushed to the edge and stood on her tiptoes to look up over the railing, trying to see as much as possible. Booker smiled and walked up behind her, lifting her up so that she could see more.

"Look, papa, I can see things that are so far away!" She exclaimed, smiling and giggling joyfully. Booker looked out at their surroundings, and the incredible view they had, and he understood why his little girl had wanted to badly to go to Paris. But somehow, he felt like their trip had been so much longer and more difficult than it had been. It felt almost as if they had been fighting for their lives only to get there. He shrugged it off. Man, he'd been having such weird thoughts lately, and it confused him.

After a while of holding his daughter up, Booker put Anna back down and stretched his arms a little. He took a step back to really take in the view, whereas Anna turned around to look at him, and suddenly his vision turned blurry again. His eyes flickered, and he could feel his heart throbbing in his chest. It was happening again, and he couldn't explain why. And in front of him was that woman again. It was as if she was flickering on and off over Anna's figure, and he was sure he had seen her somewhere before. She did look like Anna in some ways, but… Who was she? What was going on? He suddenly remembered the girl on the balcony earlier. The same dress, the same hair, everything was… the same.

"Oh, Mr. DeWitt, isn't it amazing?" The woman exclaimed with a dreamy voice, doing a little spin before putting her hands on the railings, peeking over the edge. "I knew you'd get us here, Mr. DeWitt, I just knew it!" She sighed joyfully. It seemed so unreal. Booker didn't understand at all, but the young woman grabbed his hand and pulled him to the edge. "Isn't it beautiful, Mr. DeWitt?"

"I… I don't…" He uttered, putting a hand on his forehead. Everything was spinning. Why was this happening? Was he going crazy? Someone spoke behind him. It sounded like that man who sold him the tickets.

"The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist. Look at that, dear sister… it's a prime example."

"What's happening to me?" Booker growled, spinning around. People were looking at him with weird expression, but they were different people all the time, flickering back and forth, and it drove him crazy.

"Papa?" Anna's voice called.

"Mr. DeWitt? You're bleeding again…"

He had no control. But he was starting to remember. Memories from some alternate universe pouring into his mind, and it was too much for him. He couldn't keep memories from two different lives at a time, it was too much for his head to handle, and he bled even more, his head throbbing with pain more and more with every passing second.

"Elizabeth," he murmured as he spun around, repeating it over and over again. "Elizabeth… Elizabeth… Where do I know that name? How do I…" Everything stopped. Everyone, and everything, went silent, and Booker looked up. They were still there, on the Eiffel tower, but it felt as if it was only him and her. Booker and Elizabeth. No Anna.

"Mr. DeWitt," Elizabeth said with a sigh, a hand on her chest as he looked at him.

"Elizabeth," Booker whispered, and for some reason he could feel a lump form in his throat as his eyes began to water. "Elizabeth," he said again as he practically fell forwards, embracing her desperately, as if trying to ascertain himself that she was in fact real. He didn't know what was going on. His head hurt, and he was terrified.

"Oh, Mr. DeWitt," Elizabeth whispered with a sad tone, cradling his head in her arms, gently stroking her hands through his rough hair. "How much you have sacrificed for my sake… Opening this tear was no good idea… you're hurting so much."

"But I…" He groaned in pain… "I wanted to make you happy."

"Oh but you have already, Mr. DeWitt!" Elizabeth exclaimed joyfully, leaving a warm kiss on his forehead. "And I know you will take me to Paris someday. But what do you say we do it properly? Let's… let's kick some ass up there in the skies and escape… together. Let's undo this tear and return, so that you can get your memories sorted out." She muttered with a smile, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Okay, Elizabeth…"


	4. Distractions

This chapter is the continuation of the chapter "My protector."

* * *

If there was one thing that Booker DeWitt was not fond of, it was feverish dreams. He'd have a lot of them in his life, and he always woke up sweaty and confused. Almost as if he'd forgotten the real world after getting too indulged in the world that was going on in his head. He didn't like the feeling one bit, and wished that he'd never have feverish dreams ever again. But of course he would.

He had been prepared to leave again that very day, but his wounds had gotten worse. Well, the wound in itself hadn't actually worsened, but it had started affecting his body. He had a fever, and he was sweating profusely. He didn't know how long he had slept. Everything was just fuzzy and warm, and it was so uncomfortable. He didn't really understand his dreams. They made no sense. It was always like that with his feverish dreams.

Once in a while, he had been aware of his body twisting, arching in discomfort, but he'd calmed down. As if someone was there, watching over him, making him feel safe. It was so soothing, but he didn't realize what it was. No, he was truly out of it for the most part. He was burning up. He twisted again, as if trying to wring the excessive heat out of his rapidly warming body. But it wasn't helping. Someone was calling for him. A voice that burrowed into his mind, so soft and caring. Who was there?

"_Mr DeWitt?" The voice called. "Mr DeWitt?"_

Something cold washed over his face. His eyes shot open as he sat up, gasping in surprise. Without him realizing it, his hand had hurriedly grabbed whoever it was who had woken him up, holding onto the… shoulder? He turned his head a little to see a nervous-looking Elizabeth sitting on her knees next to him, an empty bucket held in her hands, resting on her lap. Booker looked confused for a moment, his hand still holding onto Elizabeth's slim shoulder. His thumb accidentally brushed against a bare spot on her neck, making her stifle a gasp in surprise, her cheeks flushed red.

"Mr. DeWitt," Elizabeth sighed, "You're awake. I was worried about you, and you were burning up."

"Where did you... get that water?" He uttered, his eyebrows scrunching questioningly. They were lying in an air pipe. How _did _she get water?

"I took the sky-rail down to-"

"What?!" Booker exclaimed angrily. He grabbed her other shoulder in his other hand, completely ignoring the pain in his back from the wounds he'd gotten from the explosion the other day. "Elizabeth, are you crazy?! You could have been captured!"

"But I wasn't!" Elizabeth uttered, her eyes widening a little as her hand clutched to the fabric over her chest. "And you looked so sick and I just couldn't bear to watch it anymore, Mr. DeWitt, I couldn't!"

"It's not your position to worry about me, Elizabeth," Booker groaned, using one hand to rub the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "It's my job to protect you, not the other way around."

"But who's going to protect me if my protector is dying?" Elizabeth hummed, brushing her finger on the tip of Booker's nose. "Explain that to me, will you? ~" She gleamed, grinning at him almost mischievously.

"I… fine," he murmured, looking down in defeat. "But I'm serious, Elizabeth. You need to be more careful."

"I can take care of myself just well, thank you," she smiled, humming a tune under her breath as she stood up. "And that water seemed to wake you up, didn't it? How are you feeling?"

"Better… I was having some lousy dreams again," he murmured, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand. "We'll have to start moving again today."

Elizabeth was just about to raise her hand in protest when Booker quieted her.

"I'm aware of my wounds. We'll move stealthily, avoid any unnecessary battles, and we'll find somewhere to hide at night. I don't need you nagging at me about my wounds, so I'll be good and say it when I'm unable to move on, alright?"

Elizabeth frowned for a moment before slumping her shoulders, a pout grazing her face. "Fine…" She mumbled with her cheeks puffed out. Booker nodded sternly and got up, stretching his arms a little. "But if we find a clothing district, you should probably consider getting yourself a new vest," she giggled under her breath, motioning to the tearing in his clothes. He sighed.

"I suppose." He murmured, walking to the edge of the air-pipe. "Come on," he said, holding his hand out to motion Elizabeth over. "You made the jump alone earlier, apparently, but I'm not taking any chances. I'll launch you." He said, crouching down. The sky-rail was quite a distance away, and he was afraid that Elizabeth might not be able to jump far enough.

"B-But, Mr. DeWitt," Elizabeth hummed, looking down at her feet with a tiny blush on her face. "Is that really necessary?"

"Of course it is," Booker said, holding his hands a little over the ground. "Just run and step into my hands, and then jump when you feel yourself being lifted."

"Very well," she murmured, nodding gingerly. She ran towards him and stepped into his palms, and he launched her into the air by pulling his arms upwards. She flew quite high into the air, before attaching onto the sky-rail. Booker nodded to himself and stepped back a little before running for the edge, jumping onto the sky-rail. They rode the sky-rails for a while before detaching by a shopping district. They managed to buy a new vest for Booker without being recognized. Elizabeth kept it in a plastic bag as they kept moving, trying to cover as much ground as possible. They never noticed the whispering that had started up between the citizens.

After a while, they were out of the crowded areas, moving quite stealthily to avoid being detected. But suddenly, they heard what sounded like a pitiful moan behind them, followed by the loud sound of metal hitting the ground. "HANDYMAN!" Booker exclaimed and grabbed Elizabeth's hand, pulling her after him. Crap, if only he hadn't lost his gun in that explosion the other day. He had no means of fighting now, and it did indeed seem like they had been spotted. Booker pushed Elizabeth in front of him when they came to a box in front of a balcony.

"Jump!" He hissed. She leapt from the box and hooked onto one of the metal-hooks hanging over the balcony before detaching and crouching down, Booker following suit. He saw a door leading in from the balcony, and he tried to open it. But it was locked.

"Let me," Elizabeth whispered. She crouched in front of the door and pulled out a hairpin, using it to pick-lock the door. They made their way into the seemingly abandoned house. The windows were barred, and practically no sunlight came through at all. They closed and locked the door, walking over to sit in a corner of the room.

"I suppose we'll have to hide here for the time being," Booker groaned, leaning against the wall, but careful not to hurt his back. They just sat there in silence for a few minutes, when they heard footsteps and voice outside of the window. They were close. Elizabeth panicked and grabbed onto Booker's shoulder, huddling close to him. She buried her face in the nook of his neck, hoping it would make her less visible somehow. Her hot breath against Booker's skin made his breath stop in his throat. Silence. The soldiers made one last sweep outside before moving on, still looking for Booker and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth flinched a little when she heard the command for the men to keep moving. She pulled herself even closer to Booker for a split second, her lips lightly brushing against his neck. She pulled away after a second, meeting Booker's almost confused expression. "A-Are they gone?" She whimpered, her lips quivering nervously. Booker just nodded before standing up, swallowing the lump in his throat. How could she have this effect on him without even being aware of it? This girl was dangerous.

After that, they had kept moving until it had gotten dark outside, and they both agreed to find somewhere to hide. They managed to find a recently shut down hotel, so it wasn't too shabby in there. When they got to a room, Booker realized that the water was working, so he decided to take a shower. He told Elizabeth to either take a shower after him, or rest in one of the beds that the room had. She decided for the latter, saying she would rather take a shower in the morning.

Booker had never been more thankful for hot water. It hurt at first, as the water ran down his wounds, but it felt amazing once it stopped hurting. All the dirt and the sweat that had gathered on his body the past days, washed away in the drain. He excited the shower after a while and pulled on his pants. He picked his shirt and vest up from the floor and remembered just how utterly ruined they were. He groaned in exasperation and threw them in the garbage, walking out from the bathroom with a bare torso.

"Elizabeth?" He asked, hoping that she would still be awake. She shifted a little and sat up. The covers slid down a little and revealed a low-neck, white nightgown. Had she gotten that when they bought the new vest for Booker?

"Hm?" She murmured, rubbing her eyes a little. She suddenly blushed when she saw that Booker wasn't wearing a shirt. Why did she suddenly react like this when it hadn't been a problem earlier?

"Where did you put my new vest?"

"It's in a bag by the door, but… surely you can't sleep in your new clothes, Mr. DeWitt," she said, trying to keep her voice calm and steady. She stood from the bed, and Booker was a bit taken aback by how she looked. Her nightgown reached to only barely above her knees, showing off a bit of her slender, white thighs. She wore knee-high stockings that were completely white, really complementing her nice legs. He turned his gaze away quickly.

Elizabeth walked over to the door and got the bag, tip-toeing back to Booker. She sat the bag down next to his bed. "There, you can put it on in the morning," she smiled, turning towards him. "Is anything wrong?" She asked calmly, noticing how he was staring violently at the wall.

"No, uh… it's nothing," Booker murmured, shrugging his shoulders a little. He punctuated his remark by turning his gaze back to her. She really was a sight for sore eyes. Her skin was so pale and creamy, the low neck of her gown perfectly showing off the contours of her neck, her collarbones accentuating her figure with what Booker could only view as perfection. But that wasn't even all of it. Because of the low neck that her gown had, he could see the beginning of her bust, the soft edges of her now slightly visible cleavage being one of the most distracting sights Booker had ever seen. He already knew that Elizabeth had a body quite complimented by her slightly large chest, but when her cleavage was only barely visible like that, it was somehow even prettier.

Furthermore, her nightgown was somewhat hugging her body, expressing the perfect hour-glass shape she had. He couldn't even imagine how beautiful she must look without her –

He shook his head to rid himself of the thought. "Absolutely nothing is wrong," he said nonchalantly, and Elizabeth nodded acceptingly.

"Very well," she smiled. She kept hoping that Booker wouldn't notice her staring. She had never really seen a lot of people in her life, and she didn't know a lot about what kind of preferences people had towards the human body, but seeing Booker like that somehow made her heart beat harder in her chest. His upper body was so… captivating. The visible muscles on his stomach, the rough lines of muscle running between his shoulder and neck. She shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking things like that.

"Good night, Elizabeth," Booker said, slipping under the covers of 'his' bed. Elizabeth went to 'hers' and resumed her much needed sleep, trying to get the thoughts of Booker out of her head.


	5. Led astray

Continuation of "Distractions". It seems I will mostly focus on this line of the story, as I've come to like it quite much.

* * *

That night had been a very warm night. Booker had twisted and turned, often having to rid himself of his blanket to cool down. At some point that night he'd gotten so warm that he discarded his pants onto the floor, lying back down in only his boxers, hoping to cool off a little. It helped a bit, and he was finally able to fall asleep again, unconsciously pulling the blankets back over his body.

He slowly awoke from his slumber that morning as he felt something rustle in his bed, and then a weight pushing down on his hips. He groaned a little as he came to.

"Ugh…" He murmured, shifting a bit, but he couldn't properly move his lower body. "What's…" He opened his eyes slowly, seeing Elizabeth in her nightgown, straddling his hips with a playful smile on her face.

"It's time to wake up, Mr. DeWitt," she smiled. She rustled her hips a bit as if to try and wake him up more, but immediately felt something hard through the blankets, pushing against her inner thigh. Her breath hitched in her throat, and Booker sighed exasperatedly.

"Gah, Elizabeth… please don't wake me like this," he groaned. Elizabeth was blushing profusely.

"Ah, no, but I've read about this in an anatomy book… this is normal in the mornings, y-yes?" She stuttered and swallowed a heavy lump in her throat.

"Yes, Elizabeth. It's normal. But it's not really proper for you to be sitting on me at this time… or any time, to be precise." He murmured. Elizabeth almost looked a bit disappointed by his last remark, but got off him. She felt a pleasant shiver go down her back for a split second, but forgot it in a hurry. She retreated to the bathroom to take a shower, and Booker sat up with a loud sigh. Seeing Elizabeth like that… he didn't want to admit it, but it did something to him. He tried to shrug it off and forget it. It would be best like that.

The days went by as they traveled. They decided after a while that they wouldn't go about it too quickly, mostly to avoid any unwanted attention. They had been able to stay away from any battles for 3 days after the blast by the air-pipe, and hopefully today would be the same. Booker and Elizabeth had somehow become very synchronized, which made it a lot easier for them to get things done.

"Excuse me," Booker said to the man in the market, pointing at a bunch of apples to his right. The man turned and looked at them. "How much do you want for 10 of those?" He asked, and grabbed a piece of bread without the man looking. He tossed it over the shack and into Elizabeth's hand, who hid it behind her back as hey eyes scanned over the different fruits that were there. The merchant gave Booker the prize.

"Ah, no, I don't have that much… hmm… how about 2 of these?" He asked, pointing at a few watermelons. He grabbed two apples in one hand and tossed them, Elizabeth catching them with rehearsed perfection. "No, actually… I'll have one watermelon instead," he said, and the man nodded. He paid for the melon and left, Elizabeth hurriedly catching up to him.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" She grinned, bumping Booker's shoulder gingerly. He sighed.

"You're really so set on stealing things, even though we have money." He groaned in exasperation. She giggled a little.

"Oh, Mr. DeWitt, it's all good fun!" She smiled, swinging her body a little as she tiptoed forwards. "Are you surprised that I'm not all that innocent, hmm?"

"No, it's… never mind." He muttered. He held up a hand without looking and Elizabeth threw a piece of the bread they'd stolen into his hand. He caught it and nibbled a little on it. They kept walking, and they found another stand in the outside market that sold sweets.

"Ah, some chocolate sounds nice right about now…" She sighed happily. Booker perched and eyebrow and looked at her.

"Damsel in distress?" He asked.

"Damsel in distress." She smiled. They walked over to the stand and Booker grabbed Elizabeth's shoulder, leaning in to give her a kiss. She tried to push him away, but he was resilient.

"C'mon, sweetheart," he said groggily, laughing loudly. She put on a big grimace and tried to force him away from her.

"I told you, I have a husband!" She exclaimed, but he didn't stop. The sweet merchant came up to them and grabbed Booker's shoulder.

"Hey, I think it's about time you let the lady go, mate," he said, looking sternly at Booker. He pulled him away from her and stared him into the eyes.

"Ah, come on, don't be such a killjoy," he laughed. While this was happening, Elizabeth grabbed two bars of chocolate that was neatly wrapped in plastic and hid them between her breasts and her corset. She hugged her body closely to look scared as Booker stomped off in a drunken looking manner, and the merchant turned back to Elizabeth.

"You okay there, lady?" He asked, trying to sound calm. She nodded hesitantly.

"Y-Yes! Thank you so much, sir." She uttered. He smiled softly.

"No problem, Miss. That guy had it coming. You should fly now, make sure that guy doesn't come back for ya'."

"Yes… thank you." She said and jogged off, not giving the merchant time to realize that she was headed in the same direction as Booker. She caught up to him and handed him one of the chocolates.

"Thanks," he chuckled and took a bite, smiling contently. "Man, that's nice…" He sighed. They kept walking for a while, finishing their chocolate and breakfast as they walked. After a few minutes, Booker could see someone approaching that they wouldn't want to be bumping into. He tapped Elizabeth on the shoulder and pointed forwards before slipping into a narrow and dark alleyway with his hand held out behind him.

Elizabeth nodded as she saw the soldiers and grabbed his hand gingerly as he pulled her after. There were no containers or anything to hide behind in the alley, so they had to do the most drastic choice.

One of the soldiers walked past the alleyway and stopped in his tracks as he saw movement. "Excuse me, I – oh." He said. He could see a man holding a woman carefully against the wall, his back turned so that her face was hidden, and he was bending down to kiss her. "Sorry." The soldier laughed and kept walking, leaving the two alone.

"U-Uhm…" Elizabeth blushed deeply. Booker had stopped only centimeters away from her lips in order to make it look believable. He retreated his head after the soldier had gone and scratched the back of his head.

"S-Sorry," he stuttered, turning his gaze away from her.

"No, it… it was necessary, right?"

"Yeah… let's get moving."

…

They made their way down a crowded street, trying to move swiftly before Booker was stopped by a lady and a gentleman with yellow clothes. He looked at them with a weird expression on his face, and Elizabeth stopped right next to him.

"What do you want?" Booker asked grimly, wanting to get a move on as quickly as possible. The man and the woman looked pretty weird. Eerie, for some reason.

"The man wants to continue walking," the woman said.

"But that's not a good idea, is it?" The man continued. They both tilted their head as they looked from him to Elizabeth before turning their head towards an alley that cut through to another street.

"You'd be smart to go that way instead," the woman said.

"For trouble awaits on the path straight ahead." The man finished. Booker was about to push them away and keep going when Elizabeth grabbed his shoulder and looked into his eyes.

"Mr. DeWitt, I think we should listen to them," she said with concern in her voice.

"No, Elizabeth, they're just crazy," he said, not caring that they could both hear him.

"Mr. DeWitt, I'm urging you to-"

"Elizabeth, no. Let's just keep going."

"Booker!" She exclaimed almost angrily, and he took a step back in surprise. He stared at her for a while before nodding nervously.

"Y-Yeah… okay, we'll cut through the alley." He said. She nodded and they hurriedly went to the side, going through the alley. It was scarily long, and they couldn't see the end of it. They eventually ended up in some sort of tunnel where they could barely see anything.

"This is…" Elizabeth murmured, looking around. Something was definitely off.

"This is surreal," Booker uttered, looking around to try and see if he could find something, to no use. They were slowly engulfed in darkness, and their pace slowed considerably when they had to move around without seeing. "I knew we shouldn't have listened to those guys." Booker said.

"I don't know, Mr. DeWitt," Elizabeth said, and Booker wished that she could stop calling him that, "I feel that it might have been the best choice. I feel like this was the right path to take."

"Yeah, sure," Booker smiled sarcastically, knowing he'd have to put that sarcasm into his voice for Elizabeth to actually sense it, "Because walking around in a never ending tunnel with no light is the best choice anyone has ever made."

They didn't say anything more for a while, but then they heard something move. Rustling. Almost like feet that tattered over the ground. Elizabeth yelped and jumped to the side, unceremoniously bumping into Booker's arm. He jumped a little in surprise, but Elizabeth fidgeted until she found his hand and held it tightly.

"Mr. DeWitt, I'm afraid," she whispered, her eyes darting around as if she was trying to see something in the darkness that surrounded them.

"Take it easy, Elizabeth," Booker said, trying to calm her down. He squeezed her hand comfortingly and started walking forwards again. Soon after, Elizabeth moved her hand a little and interlaced her fingers with Booker's. He would try to tell her off, but he knew she wouldn't listen. They walked like that for a while, their speed increasing a little to try and get away from whatever it was that moved within the tunnel.

"God, how long is this tunnel-" Booker was cut off as he stepped into a spot where there was no place he could put his foot. He fell, and he managed to pull Elizabeth after him. He heard a gasp from Elizabeth, but none of them were able to say anything. They fell through thin air, still unable to see anything. Booker couldn't tell how long they had been falling for, but it felt like over thirty seconds already. And then light. And they stopped. Right above the ground, they stopped in the air and floated the rest of the distance until they feet were planted on the marble floor beneath them.

"I don't understand," Elizabeth uttered, her eyes trying to get used to the light. They were inside what almost looked like a mansion, with red carpet walls and a marble floor, carpets rolled out on the smooth surface. In front of them was one door, and that seemed to be the only way to go. They opened the door in silence and walked into the narrow hallway that seemed to slowly expand until they found themselves standing in front of another door. Behind that door were several doors.

"What the hell is this place?" Booker asked as he kept walking, Elizabeth right behind him. It was completely surreal, but after opening a set of doors, Booker was starting to understand. "Oh, I see…"

"What?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes wide. Booker turned to her and smiled deviously, as if he had just been challenged to a game. Maybe that was kind of how he saw it.

"This place… it's a…" He trailed off for a moment, his eyes scanning around the well lit hallway they were in. "It's a labyrinth."


	6. Beyond the Labyrinth

"A labyrinth?" Elizabeth asked, sounding a bit confused. She looked around, and it didn't look like anything else than a really weird house. Then again, they had seemed to get lost pretty quickly, so it did make sense.

"Yeah, we were lured in here for some reason," Booker muttered, gingerly laying his fingers on the wall. "No illusions. No trick. This is an actual labyrinth," he sighed, shaking his head a little. "We should get moving. Don't follow any routine, nothing like that… just pick random doors."

Elizabeth nodded and they started making their way through a variety of doors, all of them leading into hallways that looked exactly like the one they had been in. They kept on for a while, but after 30 minutes they were getting quite impatient. Booker walked over to a wall and pulled out a pocket knife, using it to make a mark on the wall. He nodded at Elizabeth, and they started walking again.

It didn't take long until they returned to the mark, quickly coming to the conclusion that they were walking in circles. This was definitely weird. Booker was turning back and forth, trying to figure something out, as Elizabeth gingerly let her hands slide alongside the wall until she reached a big painting. She tapped at it with her fingernail, and a hollow sound emitted.

"Mr. DeWitt," She said, and without waiting for him to turn around, she pushed her foot through the painting. Booker turned and hurriedly walked over to her.

"Great!" He exclaimed happily, helping Elizabeth tear down the rest of the painting, revealing a lit up path behind it. Walking inside, they came to a big hall that was designed exactly as the other hallways they had been in, but there was only one door. They walked through it, and yet again, they were in a hallway. It was long, narrow, and they had to walk after each other to fit. There were no doors, nothing, not for another five minutes.

"Finally," Elizabeth sighed as she saw the door ahead of them. She ran towards it, ignoring Booker's warnings. She flung the door open impatiently, but came to a halt once she stepped inside the room.

"Elizabeth? Eli- Elizabeth!" Booker exclaimed, trying to catch her attention he pushed her to the side and walked into the room. "Jeez, what the hell are you- Oh, holy shit." He breathed, his breath almost being punched out of him as he looked up. The room they were in wasn't very big, and it was dimly lit, but in a glass casing in front of them was something that looked like an exhibition. Behind the glass, on top of a little platform, stood a creature of sorts. It was big, and metallic, standing on two legs. It looked kind of like a metallic statue where it stood.

"It looks like something that belongs deep under water…" Booker uttered, walking closer to the glass as he looked up at the silhouette. Its 'face' had something similar to a metallic cage on the outside. Behind the 'cage' were several circles that could almost resemble lamps. But there was no light in them. Only darkness. Its body was very short, compressed almost, compared to how big it actually looked. One of its arms was just a huge drill.

"Mr. DeWitt, look!" Elizabeth exclaimed excitedly as she circled the glass casing, noticing a tank and a valve on its back. "It's amazing… beautiful." She gasped. Booker looked at the tank and valve before returning to the front, looking at the little plaque that was there.

"Presenting… the Big Daddy, from the deeps of Rapture. What the hell is Rapture?" Booker frowned, his nose wrinkling in confusion. "This is just weird… we need to get out of here."

"I guess…" Elizabeth sighed. "But it's kind of exciting isn't it?"

Booker ignored her. The place was giving him the creeps, and he wanted nothing but to get out of there. If only they could find a way out. Out of the labyrinth, out of Columbia. That's all he wanted. To bring Elizabeth with him, and wipe out his debt. But he somehow felt uneasy about it. As if he didn't really want to take her back there. He knew she would feel betrayed, and hurt, and usually that wouldn't bother him, but it did. And that scared him even more.

"Elizabeth… let's get out of here." He said, and Elizabeth nodded. She did agree, after all. She didn't want to waste any more time on trivial things, though she really didn't mind relaxing with some entertainment once in a while. There was so much to see, so many things she had never ever experienced in her life that she wanted to live. It made her feel so much more alive than she had ever felt before, and she loved it.

…

They climbed the stairwell that they had found pretty easily after leaving the room with the giant display, and they flinched when the strong sunlight hit their face. They were finally back in the city, and the streets were filled with people as usual. Booker and Elizabeth didn't waste any time to figure out where they were, and which direction they had to go to get back on track. It was time to get a move on.

They eventually got to the harbor where they saw several air-ships. "We need one of those," Booker said, pointing at one of the tinier ones. "If we get one of those, we can get to… Paris." He said, just barely avoiding saying the wrong thing.

"Sounds like a plan!" Elizabeth smiled, jumping back and forth on her heels. "So, do we, uh… steal it?" She asked, sounding a bit nervous. Booker only nodded, looking around them. There were many people there, but they had to get it over with. They had to get out of there before they got into any more trouble. What they needed was a plan.

…

The man walked down towards the airships, whistling to himself, a smile playing on his lips all the while. He walked towards one of the tinier airships there and nodded at the man who stood at its side, washing it with some cloth. "Good day," he said, and the man smiled back at him.

"Good day. Enjoying the weather today, are we?" He said, and the man in the vest nodded again.

"Sure are. The sun's amazing," The man chuckled, wiping his brow convincingly. "Nice ship you got there. Looks like you're taking good care of her."

"Of course. She's my baby," he laughed, patting the exterior on the ship before turning to the man in the vest.

"Well, that's great. I got one myself, by the southern harbor. Got some problems with the propels though, so I can't take it too far out. But just having it is nice, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, definitely," the man with the ship nodded, turning his focus to the man in the vest. He didn't even notice the girl who jumped onto his ship and got into the pilot cabin. The man in the vest pointed outwards.

"See that cloud out there? The one that looks like a ball? That's probably as far as I've gotten, I'd guess."

"That's pretty far, though." The man said, sounding surprised. "Sounds like a nice ship." He said. The sound of a ships motor starting could be heard, but the man just assumed it was someone else's. It wasn't. The man in the vest took a few steps to the side and gritted his teeth.

"I'm really sorry about this," he said, and pulled a gun out of his pocket. The other man widened his eyes in fear, and Booker aimed the gun. He pulled the trigger, and the bullet cut through the ropes that held the ship at bay. It didn't take long before it started moving outwards, and the man still stood there in shock, frozen.

"Mr. DeWitt, hurry!" Elizabeth shouted from the ship, and Booker started running down the bay. Once he was beside the ship, he leapt. He quickly seized the gap between him and the ship, rolling as he landed.

"Looks like we made it just in time," he said as he got into the piloting cabin, pointing out the window. Elizabeth poked her head out and saw several guards running down the harbor.

"Yeah, looks like it," Elizabeth replied with a sigh.

"You did great," Booker grinned, patting her shoulder. She blushed a little and nodded.

"You too," she piped up, smiling at him. "So, let's set the destination, shall we?" She said with a broad smile. Booker nodded hesitantly and looked at the panel. He reached his hand out. He had made his decision. Just as he was about to put in the coordinates for Paris, a rocket hit their ship, and they started going down. And down they went, outside the boundaries of Columbia. Down, down.

Elizabeth clutched tightly at Booker's shirt, and he hugged her close in his arms. And just like Lucifer, they fell in flame.

* * *

This chapter has a pretty quick ending, and it's honestly just because I ran out of ideas. And of course, I mixed in a little line from Les Misérables, because I can ~ From the next chapter onwards, I'll be mixing in MUCH more from Bioshock 1, but I'll try to make it understandable to those who haven't played it.


	7. To the surface, and further down?

A/N: I'll probably post this note on the new update for every fic I have, just in case. I haven't updated in quite a while, especially not my Bioshock, Supernatural and Dexter fanfics, and I'm sorry for that. Someone told me that I shouldn't forget about you guys, and trust me, I'd never forget. But I've been kind of sick lately, and with school just having started again, I've exerted quite a lot of energy into keeping myself in shape enough to get to school instead of staying home sick. But I'll do my best to pump out a few chapters now as soon as possible.

* * *

All of it was just one big blur. Flames. The extreme g-force pulling at them as the walls around them shattered and the air outside got in. And then, for a moment, everything was silent. Elizabeth could still feel the heat from the flames, but they were much fainter now. As if they were simply above her and not around her.

And then, it got cold. As soon as she realized where she was, she also realized just how cold it felt, and her eyes shut open. Darkness. That's the first thing she saw. The waters of Columbia was nothing compared to this. She could feel it, without even looking – the vastness. She knew that she was lost in a gigantic void of water and nothingness, and she had felt nothing like it in her entire life. What was it? These waters. She could feel it reaching out, expanding across the surface… surface. There was a surface now, she could even feel that part. Not just air, and a drop. There was hard ground underneath them, on the bottom of the ocean.

Yes, that's exactly what it was. The ocean. Elizabeth had read about it in a book once. The ocean was the least explored place on earth, and probably held millions upon millions of secrets. And she was there, smack in the middle of it. And that feeling, mixed together with the initial shock of falling from Columbia to the ocean of the earth, made her forget how to swim.

She lay there, under water, simply looking up at the flames that faintly danced upon the surface of the water. It was probably because of the fuel in the airship that the water still allowed them to burn. And then, as the weight of the water pushing down on her chest, and the lack of oxygen to her brain was starting to wear on her, a pair of strong hands swooped her up and rushed to the surface.

Once they broke the surface, Elizabeth gasped for breath, her senses finally returning to her. Her arms started splashing on the surface in panic, but Booker grabbed her and held her still. "Elizabeth, it's okay!" He exclaimed, trying to get Elizabeth under control. When that didn't work, he put his arms under her shoulders and swam her over to the lighthouse he'd seen. They were extremely lucky to crash that close to one. He pulled her up on the large rocks. "It's okay, we're on the ground now."

"Where are we?" Elizabeth gasped as she got to her feet, turning round and round to get a good look. It wasn't easy in the darkness that shrouded them.

"We're in the middle of the ocean," Booker said, hands in his hips. "We fell all the way from Columbia and down here. We're lucky there's a lighthouse." He mumbled, furrowing his brows a little. Booker shivered as his eyes cast upon the lighthouse that towered above them. This was a bit too similar to how he'd ended up in Columbia. But he was sure this was a completely normal lighthouse.

"I'm freezing," Elizabeth uttered with clattering teeth, and Booker nodded and followed her inside of the lighthouse. When they stepped inside, Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks, as did Booker. They were both breathless for a while, though Booker's shock went over to frustration once he realized lighthouses would always lead him to something weird.

There, in front of them, was a golden statue of a man with a red banner in front. In a white font, it read:

_NO GODS OR KINGS. ONLY MAN._

"Seriously?" Booker groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "To make matters worse, we probably have to enter the damn thing to get out of here."

"Enter… it?" Elizabeth asked, her arms still hugging her own shoulders. "What do you mean?"

"There's probably some secret way of getting in… somewhere." He mumbled, and started walking forwards. Elizabeth followed hesitantly, and it didn't take them long to notice that there was a stairwell on each side of the statue. Begrudgingly, Booker walked down the stairs and stood in front of the little pod. "Or not so secret," he said, sighing in defeat.

"Mr. DeWitt?" Elizabeth asked questioningly.

"Look, I know it's probably not so tempting, but… we should get going. See where this thing leads. If it even works, that is." He told her, his arms gesturing towards the pod. Elizabeth perched an eyebrow before nodding slowly, walking in. Booker followed, and he pulled a lever that shut the door behind them. One of the sides of the pod was nothing but glass, but only darkness was on the other side.

After a few seconds, the pod rumbled, and they started moving down. "Mr. DeWitt, this is making me nervous," Elizabeth shivered, and Booker clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"It's going to be okay. And hey, you should cover up," he frowned, motioning towards her chest. "I can see right through your blouse."

"H-Hey!" She exclaimed, covering her breasts with her arm. Her face grew warm, and she was just about to tell Booker off when a voice spoke over some kind of intercom.

"_I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? 'No!' Says the man in Washington, 'it belongs to the poor.' 'No!' Says the man in the Vatican, 'it belongs to God.' 'No!' Says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.' I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose…"_

There was a pause. An eerie silence. The two of them could feel it bubbling in their chest as the pressure rise, and they held their breath. And then, suddenly, there was no more darkness. There was no more endless lightlessness. In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded by blue.

"_Rapture."_

Elizabeth gasped and automatically grabbed onto Booker's arm, clinging close to him. He said nothing, just staring wide-eyed at the vast ocean in front of them, filled with buildings and lights and tunnels made of glass. Booker had never seen an ocean filled with so much life. A city in the middle of the heavens he could understand, but under the water? Was it even possible?

"_A city where the artist would not fear the censor; where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality; where the great would not be constrained by the small! And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well."_

"My god," Elizabeth whispered, and then her eyes were filled with wonder and curiosity, and as Booker turned to look at her, he could see her eyes glistening, and oh how beautiful they looked with the flickers of the ocean reflected in her eyes. "Isn't it gorgeous, Mr. DeWitt?" She exclaimed, walking forwards to put a hand on the glass that separated them from all the water.

"I suppose you're right," Booker mumbled as he cast another glance at the city in front of them.

Elizabeth read a little pamphlet that was attached to the wall there. "So apparently this is… a… b-b-bathysphere?"

"That's a Russian invention, I think," Booker mumbled. "Interesting."

The bathysphere took them into an opening, and when it opened, they were both pretty surprised at what met them. They were in some sort of lounge, with warm colors and people talking to each other. There was music playing somewhere, and people were drinking wine and eating fine dinners. Under water. Booker was more than just a little confused.

"Ah, welcome," a voice called, and a man wearing a uniform with a name-tag on came over to them. Jonathan, his name was. "Have you ordered a room?" He asked, tilting his head questioningly.

"Oh, no, we're… uh…" Booker cleared his throat, looking down at their soaking clothes.

"Oh! Of course. You came involuntarily. We'll fix you up with something right away," he said with a smile. "Whenever someone comes unknowingly, it's always for a reason, you know. Like the world wants you here. We'll definitely get you a nice suite."

He rushed off behind a counter and talked to a woman who was probably his manager, and they both worked on jotting something down in a folder. Probably a guest list. The woman picked a couple of keys and brought them over. "Here you go. Welcome to Rapture," she smiled brightly, handing the keys to Booker, who was still pretty confused. "Take to the right by that door," she said, pointing at the other end of the lounge, "and the elevator will take you to the floor that is mentioned on your key."

Booker nodded hesitantly, and he walked with Elizabeth yet again holding onto his arm. He almost wished she could stop. "This is kind of exciting, don't you think?" Elizabeth beamed, throwing curious glances around the lounge. "Quite a shock, though… thinking we could go from being chased by soldiers, crashing in the ocean, to being welcome into such a luxurious place."

"Yeah, you're telling me?" Booker scoffed as they got to the elevator and took it to the floor that was on their key. "I think this whole thing is shady. They didn't even question us. It was just a 'hello, welcome, here's your key.' I don't feel too good about this."

"Oh, relax!" Elizabeth grinned. "It's kind of exhilarating, isn't it? I mean… we're under water and all."

Booker shrugged and unlocked the door to their room, and once again, Elizabeth gasped.

"Wow!" She exclaimed, running into the room. It was big, with carpeted floors and a huge window that covered pretty much the entirety of one of the walls. It had closable blinds on the inside to block the view, too. Elizabeth leaned on the window and looked outside. "It's so pretty," she mumbled, and Booker shook his head in frustration.

"Are you kidding me?" He groaned as he made his way into the room after locking the door.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked, but then she saw it. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"It's a double bed."

"Mhm."

"And there's no couch."

"Exactly."

"What do we do?"

"I can sleep on the floor."

"No, you won't. You still need to make sure you tend to those wounds properly, remember? We can share a bed, it's not a big deal." Elizabeth said determinately, her hands on her hips. "Besides, you look like the kind of man who's already had quite a lot of experience with women, so you should be able to control yourself, right?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Booker exclaimed, and Elizabeth couldn't help herself from giggling.

"Well, women do like handsome men, don't they?" She said with a playful tone. Booker groaned and slumped his shoulders. He had no idea how to deal with this girl at all. "Anyhow, I'll go take a shower." She chuckled before locking herself inside the bathroom. Booker sighed and slumped down in a chair. After quite some time, Elizabeth emerged from the bathroom in a bathrobe.

"Where did you get that?" Booker frowned, and Elizabeth perched an eyebrow as she pulled some hair behind her ear.

"It was in the bathroom. It was kind of perfect actually, because now I can hang my clothes out to dry. I should probably get some new ones, too…"

"Ahah," Booker mumbled. "Well, guess I should take a shower too." He sighed. He got up and entered the bathroom, taking a quick shower to warm himself up, again trying to be careful with the wounds on his back. It was with reluctance that he also left the bathroom wearing one of the bathrobes he found in there. He did have to dry his clothes too, after all.

"Oh my," Elizabeth giggled as she saw Booker emerge from the bathroom.

"Shut up," he mumbled, going to sit at the table. Elizabeth smiled and stood up.

"At least your bathrobe isn't as short as mine," she huffed. "This one is so cold."

Booker rolled his eyes a little as Elizabeth walked over to a mini fridge to get something to drink. "Hey, those cost money, you know." Booker told her.

"We'll deal with that later," Elizabeth said jokingly as she bent down to open the fridge and her robe slipped upwards, over her thighs and her buttocks and then-

"FOR GOD'S SAKE!" Booker exclaimed, hurriedly turning his head away. "Would you at least put on some underwear?!"

Elizabeth stood up with a confused expression on her face. "What? But I had to dry them. Also, how did you know? Wait…" She uttered as she started blushing profusely. "Mr. DeWitt, how could you?!"

"It's not my fault!"

"Hmpf," she scoffed, before mumbling, "You want to take another look?"

"WHAT?!"

"Sorry, I'm just joking with you." She giggled.

"Oh, god…"


End file.
